+1 tiny invisible child

[nerdeology]

Who: Mikleo, OTA
Broadcast: Fleetwide
Action: Huntress, Iskaulit
When: Now-ish!



( video; )

[The communicator comes on with a shaking motion, revealing a captain-sized bedroom decorated with various nerdery; those who've been there will recognize it as Mikleo's. That fact is fully cemented when the camera zeros in on Sorey, asleep on the bed with the sheets half-kicked. The communicator is juggled around, then back again, zooming in and out as if being played with by someone who doesn't know what they're doing. It's quiet for a long moment until at last a voice speaks up- young, maybe six or seven, sounding incredulous and very confused.]

How long... did I sleep...

[Sorey stirs then, and the voice yelps quietly and rolls off the bed, communicator turning off in the process.]


( action; huntress )

[There's a little boy wandering cautiously through the halls, poking into rooms if the door is unlocked, gawking at just about everything he sees. He'll be initially shy around strangers, especially any non-seraph and extra especially around humans, but he's a curious sort, so expect to be grilled for information once you prove to be harmless.]


( action; iskaulit )

[At some point he'll make his way over to the other ship, courtesy of one of his shipmates, and that's when the exploring really begins. He'll get into everything he possibly can in this place- every open and available room, every nook and cranny, even the accessible vents, here and there. He's in the library (oh, the library), the garden, the interfaith center, his water room. He's clearly not afraid to poke around unknown places, either.

Just like on the Huntress, the presence of others will make him wary, and humans (or those who carry some malevolence) will get double-caution out of him, but curiosity won't kill this cat. That's the idea, anyway.

Sorey's probably nearby, being the hovery-protective sort that he is, but that's mostly so any malevolence doesn't cause a problem. Mikleo's no longer protected through the sub lord pact, after all.

He may also be accompanied by a baby pengyon, toddling along behind him. Just because.]


((ooc: so yeah mikleo's de-aged for a while, thanks to an augment glitch! he's invisible on camera and his permissions for seeing him in person are here! by now he should be visible to his whole crew. ))

Comments

[sylphystia]

[He's a bit surprised to hear that from Mikleo of all people. Is that what he really thought? Well, Dezel probably lost points with how he acted towards Sorey at first.

But he had to be sure.]

I think you could learn.

[He already knows Mikleo can learn but there's no point in spoiling the future for him, really.]

[nerdeology]

What? No way! I'm a water seraph, I can't move the wind.

[sylphystia]

Wind and water might be neutral to each other, but that doesn't mean they don't interact. [He leans forward a bit.] There's usually water in the air. It's that heaviness right before it rains, or the suffocating feeling all around you when a thunderstorm is about to crack open... Sometimes it's part of a fog that makes your clothes cling to your skin.

Think outside the box, kid.

[nerdeology]

[omg don't call me kid

Mikleo pauses for a long moment, closing his eyes, feeling it out. Before too long, though, he huffs and shakes his head.]

It's not gonna work. I can feel it, kinda, but I'm not so good at seraphic artes yet.

[sylphystia]

You'll get there.

[He considers. If Mikleo doesn't totally trust him yet... this won't go over well. But he's also feeling like Mikleo will eventually become restless and get into trouble, and Dezel wants to stave that off for as long as possible.]

We should be close to a waystation. They usually have some space inside. That way I can give you a little taste of what it's like to be a wind seraph.

[nerdeology]

[Mikleo tilts his head, thoughtful and borderline excited; this could be interesting??]

What's a waystation?

[sylphystia]

A waystation is like a little island. People made it so you can restock on supplies and stretch your legs, since you can't do that on this kind of ship. It's nothing exciting and the air tastes fake, but it'll work for this.

[nerdeology]

Whoa... yeah, I wanna see one, then!

[He's never been to an island before. Space islands must be even cooler!]

[sylphystia]

[He ponders telling Sorey. Then he decides it's best to just not bother because they won't be gone long and he's not going to launch the bitty into outer space.]

Better than a metal box, right?

[You're about to be hella disappointed, kid. He hops off the box he'd been sitting on and heads toward where they keep the shuttles.]

[nerdeology]

[Mikleo starts to follow along, eager and curious, though he pauses before they can actually get in.]

What about Sorey? Won't he be worried?

[sylphystia]

He'll know where we are.

[How long can he get away with not talking about the pact? Probably not long. In the meantime, he opens the door to the shuffle and motions for Mikleo to get in.]

Here, sit down. There's some strappy thing... you need to put it on. [He fumbles around for the seatbelt.] I don't want you bumping into the hull when we start moving.

[The autopilot on these things isn't the greatest.]

[nerdeology]

[It's hard to argue about something when you don't know anything, so while he has doubts, he climbs in and does as instructed. Curiosity is a powerful thing indeed, and wind seraphim are usually good for weird experiences. Probably some ingrained thing about their element.]

What's this thing do?

[sylphystia]

It's called a shuttle. It's like a rowboat for... space.

[Gods save him. Dezel checks the straps by tugging on them. Satisfied, he slips into the other seat. The door slides shut with a rusty clunk, and then the panels roar to life.

Dezel takes a moment here. He touches his fingertips to the edges so he can orient himself. After a minute, he pokes a button. And then another. PLEASE ENTER A DESTINATION comes the computer-generated TTS voice, and Dezel helpfully grumbles back:]

Nearest waystation.

[The autopilot gently floats them out of the shuttle bay and into the sea of stars. They hang there for a moment, drifting almost aimlessly... until it accelerates with another rusty THUNK and sends Dezel flat against the back of his seat.]

Rrgh! Damn thing... [He should call out someone to fix it. Or let Sorey go at it, they have multiple shuttles to break.]

[nerdeology]

[Mikleo squirms slightly in his seat, unused to how the belt feels around him, only mollified by the fact that Dezel's still there and in a similar situation. He watches, puzzled, as the autopilot is plugged in, and then... oh. Oh, wow, it really is like a boat for the stars. Outside is a glittering, beautiful yet empty abyss, like nothing he's ever seen before- the night sky in Elysia was always lovely, but never so close. He tries to reach out and press his face against the glass, but the belt holds him in place, and the sudden jerk forward keeps him there. Probably a good thing, even if he longs to get a closer look.

Mikleo's voice is soft, awestruck, his eyes glued to the window-]

Don't cuss.

[sylphystia]

[Dezel is a little riled up.]

You can't-- [grrgh] -- sorry.

[At any rate, while the view is nice, they don't spend a whole lot of time out here! There's a waystation just a couple minutes away. It's a little bit like a dome on a stick, turning and turning slowly in the ether.]

Lots of stars, huh.

[nerdeology]

Yeah... they're everywhere. We never saw this many even in Elysia.

[There were still loads of them in such a clear open sky at night, not clouded by malevolence or that smoke that Gramps says some humans billow into the air, but here they're surrounded by them.]

Do you remember what stars look like?

[sylphystia]

[He tucks his hat down further and glances away.]

Yeah, I remember. [The gift/curse of seraphic memory.] ... I got my sight back for a little while, a few months ago. I got to see space and learn the faces of the people I journeyed with.

I can sort of imagine what it looks like.

[nerdeology]

[Mikleo looks over at him, drawn by his tone, then shuffles closer, as far as the seatbelt will allow, and pats Dezel's arm.]

It's okay. Gramps says that water makes really strong healing artes. When I'm bigger we'll find out how to fix your eyes, and you can see whatever you want again.

[sylphystia]

[It's something a kid would say-- one day I can fix you-- and he means it so innocently, his voice full of that confidence that dreaming kids have. Dezel is still surprised by it, by the gentleness (instead of shying away, like some people do).]

That's-- [Wheels spinning for a moment.] -- it's fine, don't worry about it.

I wouldn't have learned to read the wind if not for this wound, so in a way, I'm grateful. I'm stronger and more useful the way I am now.

[nerdeology]

...Well, I guess that's okay...

[If he feels better for it, maybe. It's kind of up to him after all. Sort of like Gramps and Taccio using canes to get around when they don't really need to.]

But what's it matter if you're useful?

[sylphystia]

[He snorts at that.]

You're a kid, so you can mooch all you want. That's what kids do until they grow up.

[He shakes his head.]

I didn't have anyone to take care of me after I lost my sight-- if anything, I had to take care of someone else. I couldn't afford to be a burden.

[nerdeology]

Whaaat? You had to learn all of that by yourself? No way!

[No wonder he's so serious and capable! He'd be like that too if he'd grown up on his own, surely. Looking after Sorey had made him plenty serious as it is.]

[sylphystia]

[You'll get there, Mikleo. And be better off than Dezel was.]

Is it that hard to believe?

[They seem to be descending now. The auto pilot gently brings them to the dock, where there's a lurch and a kathunk to lock the shuttle in place.]

I'm sure you could figure it out if you had to. You're bright.

[nerdeology]

You're awfully confident about somebody you just met.

[So he says, but he's preening a little, too. Why yes, he is bright, and this fact is observable. Take that Sorey!]

[sylphystia]

You remind me of someone I know, [he counters. It's not... a complete lie...] Anyway, we're here.

[He unbuckles his seatbelt and goes to unbuckle Mikleo's, too, since it might be hard for him to reach the button.]

Fair warning-- it's gonna feel sort of fake. But for our purposes, it's better than cold metal.

[Ever seen a terrarium inside a spinning top? That's basically what this is, and there are orange-skinned people (just a few) walking around the grassy park area that takes up most of the dome. Dezel feels the limits rather than sees them, but just by holding out his hand a bit, he can kick up a nice fresh breeze.]